Do you use references when fleshing out your story elements?
Like, when you try to design a new character, setting, magic system, your gaming system (if you write LitRPG), and so on, do you use external references like an artist (illustrator, painter, designer, etc.)...
YES.
-- I use references for every aspect of my stories. I just make sure no one can tell where they came from. I have
Published (with a legitimate paying Publisher!)
several Fan-fiction stories that no one even knows were originally fanfics! All I did was a few name changes of characters and locations, and some character description changes, and Viola! Instant original stories fit to publish.
There is nothing original under the sun.
-- Why reinvent
the wheel when so many people over the centuries have dedicated their whole lives to perfecting that one thing already?
-- Why reinvent a
medieval society when history is crammed full of them for every culture there is, and already has them fully documented from the Calendars they used, to how they created and distributed Money, to the Hierarchy of their Ruling Classes?
-- Why reinvent
Magic when magic already exists, and has been thoroughly documented in every culture all over the world since the dawn of mankind?
-- Why reinvent
space stations when the science for them has existed since the 1960's, and we have the perfect model for them in airports and bus stations?
-- Why reinvent
Stat Systems when there are literally thousands of different kinds of Stat Sheets already polished to perfection in the thousands of different genres of RPG books you can grab off a comic bookstore shelf, or simply download off the internet? (My preference is the GURPS books. The stat sheets are simple, intuitive, and disgustingly easy to use for any genre.)
Just grab what you need, adjust it fit to your story, and go on to write the next scene.
To quote my friend
The Gray Mouser:
"Originality is merely the Arte of
Concealing Your Sources."
Steal like an Artist
